Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplings of that class which have a sliding spring-actuated pin-support, against which the link comes to drive the support back and permit the pin to fall and effect an automatic coupling" (lines 9-13).
Date: May 6, 1884
Creator: Mayfield, Samuel Brooks.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be cheap and simple in its construction and thoroughly effective in its operation. The invention consists in the improved construction and combinations of parts" (lines 10-15).
Date: May 13, 1884
Creator: Smoot, John Devers
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an invention for train cars which "relates to car couplings, and especially to that class of the same which effect an automatic coupling by means of a gravity-hook," (lines 12-15) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 13, 1884
Creator: Washburn, Andrew Lynch & Journeay, Abram L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Press (open access)

Cotton-Press

Patent for improvements to parts arrangement in construction of a cotton press.
Date: May 27, 1884
Creator: Heflin, Cyrus David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Irrigating Apparatus. (open access)

Irrigating Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved irrigation apparatus. This design "pertains to improvements in irrigating apparatus, having for its object to prevent the choking or obstructing of the nozzle and to effect the proper distribution of the water; and it consists of the combination and construction of parts" (lines 13-18).
Date: May 27, 1884
Creator: Chisholm, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Wheel. (open access)

Locomotive Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved train wheel. This design "relates to locomotive drive-wheels; and it has for its object to so construct the same so as to avoid all slipping of the wheel upon the rail, as is usually the case when the locomotive is first started. A further object of the invention is to provide a wheel which shall be simple in its construction and durable in use" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 6, 1884
Creator: Mann, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Bucket Windlass. (open access)

Well Bucket Windlass.

Patent for a new and improved windlass mounting. This design "consists of an improved construction of and contrivance for mounting the windlass for a well-bucket; also, an improved contrivance for mounting the pulley of the windlass, whereby it is designed to provide simpler, cheaper, and easier working well-bucket windlasses than as heretofore constructed" (lines 10-15).
Date: May 20, 1884
Creator: Palmer, William Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Cutter. (open access)

Stalk-Cutter.

Patent for "a new and valuable Improvement in Corn and Cotton Stalk Cutters" (lines 5-7). It includes a description and an illustration. The construction of this stalk cutter is "adapted to be driven across the field in the direction of the rows of corn, and the knives may be adjusted to operate on rows of different widths or at different depths, so as to leave only a small stubble in passing over the field" (lines 73-78).
Date: May 20, 1884
Creator: Brown, Azariah R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Power. (open access)

Mechanical Power.

Patent for a new and improved engine. This design "relates to a combined room-ventilator and fly-hand; and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be simple in its construction and thoroughly efficient and effective in its operation. With these ends in view the invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts" (lines 9-17).
Date: May 20, 1884
Creator: Ellis, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Can. (open access)

Oil Can.

Patent for a new and improved oil can. This design "has for its object to provide a can of improved construction, whereby the liability of foreign matter in the oil will be prevented from clogging the escape-tube, and thus rendering the flow of oil impossible until the spout of the same has been freed from such obstruction" (lines 10-18).
Date: May 6, 1884
Creator: English, Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence. (open access)

Fence.

Patent for a new and improved fence. This design "ha[s] its rails arranged diagonally to the line of fencing, consisting of the double end posts, bound together at their upper ends by means of the crown-wire . . . the intermediate single posts, the horizontal rails having their ends alternately lapping the inner and outer sides of the said single posts, the transverse blocks, interposed between the respective rails, and the top rails bound to the single posts by means of the wire loops" (lines 78-88).
Date: May 20, 1884
Creator: Ford, Benjamin Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Picture Case for Tombstones. (open access)

Picture Case for Tombstones.

Patent for a new and improved picture frame for tombstones. This design, "it will be seen . . . is cheap and strong, and will perfectly protect the picture or memento, and that when in place in the tombstone its outer surface will stand flush with the outer surface of the stone, and by securing the case or frame in the stone by means of the metal or cement cast around the case, it will be seen that the case cannot be removed from the stone without breaking the stone, so that there will be no danger of the memento or picture being meddled with or taken out of the picture or frame" (lines 78-89).
Date: May 6, 1884
Creator: Holloman, Harvey Allen & Green, William Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History